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The main objective of this study was to estimate the incidence and mortality rates of epilepsy in a large population of insured dogs and to evaluate the importance of a variety of risk factors. Survival time after a diagnosis of epilepsy was also investigated. The Swedish animal insurance database used in this study has previously been helpful in canine epidemiological investigations. More than 2,000,000 dog-years at-risk (DYAR) were available in the insurance database. In total, 5013 dogs had at least one veterinary care claim for epilepsy, and 2327 dogs were euthanased or died because of epilepsy. Based on veterinary care claims the incidence rate of epilepsy (including both idiopathic and symptomatic cases) was estimated to be 18 per 10,000 DYAR. Dogs were followed up until they were 10 (for life insurance claims) or 12 years of age (veterinary care claims). Among the 35 most common breeds in Sweden, the Boxer was at the highest risk of epilepsy with 60.3 cases per 10,000 DYAR, and also had the highest mortality rate of 46.7 per 10,000 DYAR (based on life insurance claims). Overall, males were at a higher risk than females (1.4:1). Median survival time (including euthanasia and death) after diagnosis was 1.5 years. In general, breeds kept solely for companionship lived longer after diagnosis than those kept for dual-purposes, such as hunting and shepherd and working breeds. The study demonstrates marked breed differences in incidence and mortality rates, which are assumed to reflect genetic predisposition to epilepsy., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Canine epilepsy is one of the most common neurological conditions in dogs but the actual incidence of the disease remains unknown. A Swedish animal insurance database has previously been shown useful for the study of disease occurrence in companion animals. The dogs insured by this company represent a unique population for epidemiological studies, because they are representative of the general dog population in Sweden and are followed throughout their life allowing studies of disease incidence to be performed. The database covers 50% of all insured dogs (in the year 2012) which represents 40% of the national dog population. Most commonly, dogs are covered by both veterinary care insurance and life insurance. Previous studies have shown that the general data quality is good, but the validity of a specific diagnosis should be examined carefully before using the database for incidence calculations. The aim of the current study was therefore to validate the information contained in the insurance database regarding canine epilepsy. The validation focused on the positive predictive value and the data-transfer from the veterinary practice records to the insurance database. The positive predictive value was defined as the proportion of recorded cases that actually had the disease in question. The quality of the data-transfer was assessed by comparing the diagnostic codes in practice records to the codes in the insurance database. The positive predictive value of the diagnostic codes for canine epilepsy (combining "epileptic convulsions" and "idiopathic epilepsy") in the insurance database was validated in a cross-sectional study where insurance claims for canine epilepsy were compared to diagnostic information in practice records. A random sample of dogs with a reimbursed insurance claim during 2006 was included in the study sample (n=235). Practice records were requested by mail from attending veterinarians. Two independent examiners scrutinized all the records. All 235 dogs were coded correctly in the database as they really had suffered seizures with or without convulsions, and the quality of the data-transfer was therefore excellent. In total, 167 dogs (71%) were classified as cases of canine epilepsy according to pre-defined criteria, and the positive predictive value was therefore considered relatively high. Based on these results, it was concluded that the data regarding canine epilepsy in the insurance database can be used for further population studies., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)